UW-IT News & Announcements
Isaac Straley will be the new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Associate Vice President for the Office of Information Security, beginning January 2, 2024.
He will be joining UW Information Technology (UW-IT) from the University of Toronto where he has been the Chief Information Security Officer for the last five years and appointed as the university’s Deputy Chief Information Officer in early 2023. While at this top-20 globally ranked university with nearly 100,000 students and 25,000 faculty and staff, Isaac helped the institution navigate unprecedented risks related to the pandemic and rapidly changing technology use. He rolled out campus-wide multi-factor authentication, information security baseline standards, and a next-generation firewall and threat detection system.
Isaac also was a key driver for the Canadian Shared Security Operations Centre, a project incubated at the University of Toronto and now part of CANARIE, which provides shared security services to over 180 universities, colleges, and other schools around the country.
Prior to joining the University of Toronto, Isaac spent 13 years at the University of California, Irvine, where he served in roles leading to the Chief Information Security Officer (Risk and Compliance) while also serving as the Campus Privacy Officer.
Isaac will bring deep expertise and visionary leadership to the UW and will significantly advance its information security program and the delivery of critical security measures, tools, and technologies.
“In addition, I know he will model and prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion as he has done in his prior leadership roles,” said Andreas Bohman, Vice President for UW-IT and CIO. “I welcome his experience in building partnerships that nurture and build cybersecurity career opportunities for historically underrepresented students.”
In his role in UW-IT, Isaac will oversee information security-related policy and risk assessment efforts, a threat intelligence program and incident response, a security awareness and training program, business continuity and resiliency, and information security and privacy services. He will partner with University leaders to ensure a culture of security in our actions, technology, and solutions throughout the institution.